Kābul, Number 150, Volume 13, Issue 6, August 1943

Description

Kābul was a monthly periodical of the Anjuman-i Adabi Kabul (Kabul Literary Society), first issued on December 15, 1931. It published original and translated works, often short or longer essays dealing with the history, archaeology, literature, culture, languages, and society of Afghanistan. It also published news reports relating to both national and international events. In its first year, the magazine was printed in 40 to 60 pages per issue. This later grew to around 80‒120 pages per issue. The contributors to the magazine included such Afghan literary-nationalist writers as Qari ʻAbd Allah (1871–1944), Mir Ghulam Mohammad Ghubar (1895–1978), Ahmad ʻAli Kuhzad (born 1907), ʻAbd al-Hayy Habibi (1910–84), and others who played critical roles in the historicization and characterization of Afghan identity in the 20th century. Between 1931 and 1938 Kābul published only Persian material within the framework of Anjuman-i Adabi Kabul. It later branched into two separate publications and became a Pushto magazine, while continuing to publish a Persian edition. Pushto Tolanah (The Pushto Society), established in 1939 to promote Pushto-Afghan history, literature, and language, took charge of the Pushto edition within the organization of the newly-formed governmental media department, Riyasat-i Mustaqil-i Matbu’at (Autonomous Directorate of Publications). The magazine was one of the oldest and most popular publications to appear under the royal regime in Afghanistan. After the communists came to power in 1979 and the country descended into conflict and political instability, the magazine was no longer published in a stable and continuous manner. Presented here are 375 issues of the magazine from between 1933 and 1964, from the collections of the Library of Congress.